History Literature / ToBeTaughtIfFortunate

* DividedStatesOfAmerica: After the [[GlobalWarming Great Shift]], Canadian and American territories have rearranged into at least Cascadia (which based on [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cascadia_(independence_movement) this wiki article]], seems to be the North West) and the Pacific Republic. They share a border, which is mentioned to be desert.

* ForScience: Open Cluster Aeronautics, the international space agency which funded the mission, is described to be an apolitical non-profit funded solely by individual donations.

* DividedStatesOfAmerica: After the [[GlobalWarming Great Shift]], Canadian and American territories have rearranged into at least the Pacific Republic (implied to be British Columbia) and Cascadia (which based on [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cascadia_(independence_movement) this wiki article]], seems to be a chunk of North Western USA). They share a border, which is mentioned to be desert.

** The world's names themselves: the ice moon Aecor ('surface of the sea'), Mirabilis ('miraculous') which is full of weird and wonderful life, the water world Opera, where the creatures produce a constant cacophony of sound, and finally Votum (a vow or promise made to a deity), [[spoiler: where the crew, acknowledging that everything they do is on the shoulders of others, place their fate in the hands of humanity.]]

** Elena Quesada-Cruz from Tampico (in modern day Mexico)
** Chikondi Daka from Lusaka (in modern day Zambia)
** Ariadne O'Neill from Vancouver, Pacific Republic
** Jack Vo from Melbourne (in modern day Australia)

''To Be Taught, If Fortunate'' is a novella by Becky Chambers released in 2019. It is her first entry outside of the ''[[Literature/TheLongWayToASmallAngryPlanet Wayfarers]]'' series.

''To Be Taught, If Fortunate'' is a novella written by Becky Chambers and her first entry outside of the ''[[Literature/TheLongWayToASmallAngryPlanet Wayfarers]]'' series.

** The world's names themselves: the ice moon Aecor ('surface of the sea'), Mirabilis ('miraculous') which is full of weird and wonderful life, the water world Opera, where the creatures produce a constant cacophony of sound, and finally Votum (a vow or promise made to a deity), [[spoiler: where the crew, acknowledging that everything they do is on the shoulders of other, place their fate in the hands of humanity.]]

* MeaningfulName: On the last planet, Votum, the team name the only significant source of water, a small creek, Lei's River after fellow astronaut Lei Jian. [[spoiler: He informs the crew about Earth's fate and as nothing is heard from him or his mission again, it's clear that his damaged ship did not survive re-entry.]]

* {{Polyamory}}: Ariadne has sexual relationships with both Elena and Jack, but is equally emotionally close to Chikondi (who is {{Asexual}}.) They all love each other deeply.

* Panspermia: [[spoiler: Here, all cells have a chiral preference (left-handed amino acids and right-handed sugars.) However because both types of amino acids and sugars occur evenly when whipped up in the lab, there are two possibilities: 1. Chiral preferences are a necessity for life or 2. Life originated from a meteorite slamming into Earth, which happened to have mostly left-handed amino acids. On their last planet, they discover single cellular life that has no chiral preference. Which means life uses whatever is on hand, and so life on Earth very probably originated from off-world ingredients.]]

* HumanityCameFromSpace: [[spoiler: Well not humanity, but life on Earth. Here, all cells have a chiral preference (left-handed amino acids and right-handed sugars.) However because both types of amino acids and sugars occur evenly when whipped up in the lab, there are two possibilities: 1. Chiral preferences are a necessity for life or 2. Life originated from a meteorite slamming into Earth, which happened to have mostly left-handed amino acids. On their last planet, they discover single cellular life that has no chiral preference. Which means life uses whatever is on hand, and so life on Earth very probably originated from off-world ingredients.]]

** The physics in the story is mostly sound (no gravity in space, information travels at the speed of light, global heating will continue to affect the Earth's weather systems long after we stop producing greenhouse gases, and that [[spoiler: Solar flares can destroy the planet's electronics)]], however the ship travels at half the speed of light, which is far beyond our current capabilities (about 0.06% the speed of light) and nearing humanity's limit for tolerating the intense radiation produced by ultrafast cosmic hydrogen atoms.

** The physics in the story is mostly sound (no gravity in space, information travels at the speed of light, [[spoiler: Solar flares can destroy the globe's electronics), however the ship travels at half the speed of light, which is far beyond our current capabilities (about 0.06% the speed of light) and nearing humanity's limit for tolerating the intense radiation produced by ultrafast cosmic hydrogen atoms.

* HumanityCameFromSpace: [[spoiler: Well not humanity, but life on Earth. All cells have a chiral preference (left-handed amino acids and right-handed sugars.) However because both types of amino acids and sugars occur evenly when whipped up in the lab, there are two possibilities: 1. Chiral preferences are a necessity for life or 2. Life originated from a meteorite slamming into Earth, which happened to have mostly left-handed amino acids. On their last planet, they discover single cellular life that has no chiral preference. Which means life uses whatever is on hand, and so life on Earth very probably originated from off-world ingredients.]]

* HumanityCameFromSpace: [[spoiler: Well not humanity, but life on Earth. All cells have a chiral preference (left-handed amino acids and right-handed sugars.) However because both types of amino acids and sugars occur evenly when whipped up in the lab, there are two possibilities: 1. Chiral preferences are a necessity for life or 2. Life originated from a meteorite which happened to have mostly left-handed amino acids that slammed into Earth. On their last planet, they discover single cellular life that has no chiral preference. Which means life uses whatever is on hand, and so life on Earth probably originated from off-world ingredients.]]

* ExtinctInTheFuture: Played with, in their first news update, the crew learn that

* DividedStatesOfAmerica: After the Great Shift, Canadian and American territories have rearranged into at least the Pacific Republic (implied to be British Columbia) and Cascadia (which based on [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cascadia_(independence_movement) this wiki article]], seems to be a chunk of North Western USA). They share a border, which is mentioned to be desert.
* GlobalWarming: The climate crisis is continuing to have a big effect on Earth's geopolitics, even though humans are implied to have switched to renewables about a century before the story takes place (which is TruthInTelevision - even if humans disappeared today, the seas would still rise.) The crew learn that Elena's hometown of Tampico was destroyed by flooding in their first news blast from Earth.

** The enzyme patches which sit on the arm, which need to be continually worn, as cells are continually made. They allow the crew to produce anti-freeze in their blood, absorb radiation as energy and on different planets, turn their skin glittery so they can see each other in low light and double their muscle mass to cope with double the gravity.

** The enzyme patches which sit on the arm, which need to be continually worn, as cells are continually made. They allow the crew to produce anti-freeze in their blood, absorb radiation as energy and on different planets, turn their skin glittery so they can see each other in low light and double their muscle mass to cope with double the gravity. ** More mundanely, they fix Ariadne's hereditary color-blindness, suppress Elena's inherited predisposition to breast cancer and provide the testosterone for Jack's [[{{Transgender}} second puberty.]]

** Elena Quesada-Cruz from Tampico, Mexico
** Chikondi Daka from Lusaka in (modern day Zambia)

** Elena Quesada-Cruz from Tampico, Mexico
** Chikondi Daka from Lusaka in (modern day Zambia)

!!''To Be Taught, If Fortunate '' contains examples of:

''To Be Taught, If Fortunate'' is a novella written by Becky Chambers and the first entry outside of the ''[[Literature/TheLongWayToASmallAngryPlanet Wayfarers]]'' series.

''To Be Taught, If Fortunate'' is a novella written by Becky Chambers and the first entry outside of the ''[[Literature/TheLongWayToASmallAngry Planet Wayfarers]]'' series.